


Burden of Proof

by kay_obsessive



Category: Angel: the Series, Dollhouse
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-17
Updated: 2010-12-17
Packaged: 2017-10-13 17:24:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/139795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_obsessive/pseuds/kay_obsessive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Topher meets the head of Wolfram and Hart's science division.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burden of Proof

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: [character] needs a lawyer.

"You know," she says, leaning back and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "I think what youre doing here might be just a little bit evil."

Topher, hovering over her shoulder just a tad too closely, looks truly shocked by the suggestion. "What?" he replies incredulously, stepping back so she can move. "No way! We totally avoid the evil here. Were helping people. We give people what they need."

Fred smiles but looks unconvinced. She gestures to the imprint chair. "You brainwash people and then sell them by the hour. Sometimes into really dangerous situations."

That's a simplified explanation at best, but he cant really argue the overall point, especially in light of recent events. "Okay, maybe a little morally ambiguous," he offers. "And anyway, this was not my fault! It was a completely unforeseeable error, and the client signed off on the risks. Theres nothing I could have done to prevent it!"

"I'm not the one you need to tell that to. My boss is still upstairs with your boss. Im just the science girl." She stands and turns to look over the imprint file on the computer behind her, so she misses the grin he gives her. "And I didnt say it was _really_ evil. As long as youre not doing something like ritual sacrifice or breaking interdimensional drug trafficking laws, we can probably help you. Wolfram and Harts represented a lot worse."

Topher stares for a second before shaking his head. DeWitt told him not to ask too many questions about these guys. They were the best at what they did, and they had long ties with Rossum; that was all he needed to know. "Well, if were doing any of that, its not in my department," he says instead.

Fred frowns as she leans over his computer, and Topher tries not to stare, but shes smart and beautiful and shes wearing a lab coat and glasses with thick frames. Shes standing in his office, and her hair is pulled back in a loose bun. Topher forces himself to look away until she says, "Can you tell me what this section right here means?"

She straightens as he comes to stand beside her and explain the machines readout. "This isnt really my area," she admits when he finishes. "I'll have to bring the rest of my team in for a more thorough analysis later. Theyll be excited; the cases we get dont usually have us front and center."

"Domestic?" Topher guesses.

She mumbles something that sounds to him like, 'mystical.'

Eventually, she takes a step back. "I think I've got all I can get for now. Ill bring my computer guy in next time." She hesitates for a moment. "And if you wouldnt mind it?" she begins. "I'd like to learn a little more about how this all works when there aren't any unforeseeable errors." After all, they come across their share of demonic possessions. She cant help but think that, maybe with a little magical augmentation, the wiping process might be able to be harnessed for such a purpose. Itd be worth running by Angel at the very least.

Tophers grin in response is wide and eager, and she cant help but smile back. "Yeah, no problem," he says.

\---

They win their case, and the next several months pass slowly and without excitement. When the tall, brooding, unusually pale man whod interrogated them all seeks them out again, it takes Topher a moment to place him.

But he recognizes the girl right away, even if she's lost the coat and the glasses and there's something strangely and imperceptibly different about her - a sharpness to her and a cold distance in her eyes.

He's under orders not to pry again from DeWitt, so he bites his tongue and gets her into the chair for the initial wipe. All he can do is search her scan for the abnormality the man insists is there.


End file.
